(Photo by Tear-Off Heaven Fotos)
Inside Line Promotions – WATSONVILLE, Calif. (July 14, 2014) – Dominic Scelzi is coming off one of his most complete weekends of the season.
With Peter Murphy turning the wrenches, Scelzi captured his third top five of the season on Saturday following a charge from 19th to ninth on Friday during the Howard Kaeding Classic doubleheader at Ocean Speedway.
“It was a really good weekend,” he said. “If the driver changed a couple of things it might have been even better. I can’t thank Peter Murphy enough for helping us again. It is a huge lift for our team when he is around.”
The weekend started on Friday with 360ci action for the Civil War Sprint Car Series and Ocean Sprints co-sanctioned race. Scelzi qualified second quickest and he was running in a lock-in position during his heat race when a miscue resulted in a cut tire.
“I went through turns three and four and Bud Kaeding got side by side with me,” he said. “I had no choice but to go high. I made an error on the exit of the corner and hit the wall, which cut down the right rear tire.”
The Roth Motorsports backed team changed the tire during a caution, but Scelzi quickly returned to the pits after the right rear shock broke following the restart. That relegated him to the B Main, which he placed third in to transfer to the back of the main event.
“We were really good in the feature,” he said. “We passed a ton of cars on the start. Then a car got sideways in front of us and I had to check up. I gave back a lot of those positions. The race was about surviving. Then we really got rolling in the late laps when the track got slick.”
Scelzi manuevered from 19th to ninth in the main event, which marked his sixth top 10 of the season.
The weekend concluded on Saturday with the King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series at the quarter-mile track.
“We were the last qualifying group,” he said. “For where we went out it was a really good qualifying effort.”
Scelzi timed in 14th quickest, which lined him up on the pole of a heat race.
“The top row would always get a better start,” he said. “Bud got the jump on us and we followed him around there and ran second in our heat.”
That advanced him into the main event, which he started 12th.
“The track was really, really slick,” he said. “The car was just about perfect. We were able to drive up to eighth in two laps.”
Scelzi advanced into fourth place when there was a red flag with approximately five laps remaining.
“On the restart I jumped from fourth to first,” he said. “I got a really good start and was right on (Jonathan) Allard’s rear bumper. Bud Kaeding was on the inside and spun his tires a bit. I was able to split them both going into turn one. I went to the bottom and slid Allard. We went through turns three and four and he tried to slide me back, but I was able to keep the lead. Then about 20 feet from the start-finish line the yellow came out and we had to revert back.”
After having to restart fourth, Scelzi again nearly made his way into second place when there was a late caution. He restarted third during a green-white-checkered finish and was in contention for the win on the last lap.
“We were either going to win it or run fifth,” he said. “The top four or five cars were within a car length of each other. On the final lap I went from the bottom of turns one and two up to the top and that’s when two cars got around me so I finished fifth. The yellows were definitely not on our side. We had a great run and a really great race car.”
Scelzi’s fifth-place result moved him into eighth in the King of the West championship standings.
He will race with the series this Saturday at Placerville Speedway in Placerville, Calif.
QUICK RESULTS –
July 11 – Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, Calif. – Qualifying: 2; Heat race: 9 (4); B Main: 3 (1); Feature: 9 (19).
July 12 – Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, Calif. – Qualifying: 14; Heat race: 2 (1); Feature: 5 (12).
SEASON STATS –
23 races, 0 wins, 3 top fives, 7 top 10s, 11 top 15s, 15 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Saturday at Placerville Speedway in Placerville, Calif., with the King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.GaryScelziMotorsports.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DominicScelzi41
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gary-Scelzi-Motorsports/225890834113599
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Red Rose Transportation
Red Rose Transportation, Inc., has been a leading non-asset third party logistics provider since 1996. Because it started as a carrier, Red Rose Transportation understands the complex and diverse needs of both the carriers and shippers, and it provides comprehensive solutions that satisfy both parties. The team of logistics professionals are responsible for moving and facilitating thousands of nationwide truckload freight shipments annual. For more information, visit http://www.RedRoseTransportation.com.
“My mom and uncle started the business in 1996,” Scelzi said. “It’s been a huge part of our race program since Day 1. Everyone there has been a big part of the team.”
Scelzi would also like to thank Whipple Superchargers, Fowler Packing, Fuel Delivery Services, Inc., Panella Trucking, Carlucci Transport, AXA Equitable Insurance with Bob & Gina Estrada, Roth Motorsports, Scelzi Enterprises, FK Rod Ends, Kaeding Performance, Brown and Miller Racing Solutions, Sweet Manufacturing, Weld Wheels, Simpson Race Products, Blast Tech, Tim Jones, G&J Truck Sales, Red Line Oil, K&N Filters, Schoenfeld Headers, Sparco and ButlerBuilt Professional Seat Systems for their continued support.
INSIDE LINE PROMOTIONS –
Inside Line Promotions specializes in affordable public relations and media management for motor sports drivers, teams, sponsors, tracks, series, events, organizations and manufacturers. ILP Founder Shawn Miller leverages professional journalism with new media technologies and social networking to improve your exposure and the return on investment for your sponsors.
To meet the media relations needs of your program and to join Team ILP, contact Shawn at 541-510-3663 or InsideLinePromotions@gmail.com. For more information on Inside Line Promotions, visit http://www.InsideLinePromotions.com.
- Shawn Miller on Jul 14, 2014
- Article Date: 7/14/2014 by Inside Line Promotions